The productive difficulty of untranslatables in qualitative research

Abstract

The paper highlights the role of translation in qualitative research that involves multiple languages. Its particular focus is on untranslatables, that is, those words or phrases in a source language that pose challenges to translators because no direct equivalent is available in the target language. Untranslatables create moments of productive difficulty by forcing a critical examination of both the data and the assumptions that framed the research questions. The paper discusses two cases: research with Mandarin-speaking participants on the topic of democracy and democratic subjectivity, and research with Q'eqchi'-speaking participants on the topic of civic engagement and political participation.Este artículo enfatiza el papel de la traducción en las investigaciones cualitativas que se basan en múltiples idiomas. En particular se enfoca en los 'no-traducibles,' es decir, las palabras o frases en el idioma original que plantean retos a los traductores porque no hay un equivalente directo en la lengua meta. Los 'no-traducibles' crean momentos de dificultad productiva por obligar un examen crítico tanto de los datos como de las suposiciones que guían las preguntas rectores de la investigación. Este artículo trata dos casos: una investigación con participantes de habla chino mandarín sobre el tema de la democracia y la subjetividad democrática, y una investigación con participantes que hablan maya q'eqchi' sobre el tema de la participación cívica y política. ARTICLE HISTORY

An information literacy lens on community representation for participatory budgeting in Brazil

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